


The Book of Kagome

by Elohiniar



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Amazing, Angst, Best, Drama, Excellent, F/M, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Healing, Heartbreak, Homelessness, Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22220758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elohiniar/pseuds/Elohiniar
Summary: Her husband was killed in a car accident along with her father-in-law. There was no will left behind and her in-laws weren't married. Her own family is poor and can't support her. After winding up homeless she goes back to the heir and sole successor to the Taisho fortune, Sesshomaru and begs for work. Can she melt a heart colder than stone?This story is beta'd by the lovely Laureninthesky!Now that I know about tags better this story does start with SessadultRin who happens to also be a bitchy Bikini model. Just putting that in there...
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/Sesshoumaru, Rin/Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 50





	1. Chapter 1

They sat in the morgue, a hollowed white shell of a room with a metallic smell and so quiet Kagome could hear the raspy breath of her mother-in-law. Two bodies lay displayed on the metal slabs, eyes shut, teeth clenched. Izayoi leaned heavily against the slanted table that ended in a drain. “It’s them.”

Kagome didn’t want to believe it. She couldn’t believe it. She fell to her knees, with tears in her eyes, staining already red cheeks. Her stomach roiled and the blueberry scone she had eaten at the coffee shop just before she and Izayoi got the phone call from the police to come to the morgue splattered on the bitter ivory tiles. Her husband’s hand fell from the table, cold against her face like the last caress of the damned. She yelped in surprise, touching the cold, dead fingers.

_He was gone._

She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think. They had known each other for so long. They met in high school. Inuyasha played Frisbee-golf which had somehow become a thing in his school. They married right out of high school. He was graduating college next month. They were going to start a family. They were going to do so many things.

Her vision went in and out of focus as she shivered against the freezing tiles. “I…” she coughed out.

She felt hands reach down and haul her back on her feet. “We’ll be okay,” Izayoi squeezed her fingers. “We’ll be okay,” she croaked. “We need…” but even she couldn’t speak.

***

“I’m sorry, what?” Kagome shook her head confused as she sat at the oak desk in the mansion-like home owned by the Taishos. It was ancient and had been in the family for three generations.

Across from her sat a squat man with a round belly and a wrinkled old face that reminded her of figs drying in the desert. “I’m sorry. I know this is hard for you to understand. Toga didn’t leave a will and he and Izayoi weren’t married. All the assets have been frozen and Sesshomaru Taisho has already had injunctions filed to stop you from accessing any account that was under the Taisho umbrella. You can still take money out of your personal account. The joint account, his father was listed as the primary and the many deposits made over the years clearly came from Mr. Taisho’s accounts.”

“Those were to pay for school, they were gifts!” Kagome protested feeling sick again. He had been dead for two weeks and now this?

Myoga shook his silver wisps sadly saying, “it is what it is. I’m sorry.”

“But I don’t have money in that account.” She slumped back in her chair and tried to wipe her eyes. “What about Izayoi?” She suddenly felt awful for her mother-in-law.

“It’s confidential,” he spoke mutely.

Kagome ran from the office down the stairs. She had shared the guest house with Inuyasha at the insistence of Toga and Izayoi. It was accessible past the pool where Sesshomaru sat sucking on a Mai Tai, bare chest exposed next to his slinky girlfriend. He didn’t even cry at the funeral. “You!” Kagome screamed at him.

His gaze floated over to her as his lips sucked down on the straw. “Bring me another one, Rin?”

“Sure,” the slender model-like female rose, baring her body in an open white coverup and black bikini.

“You can leave now,” he said with a snort.

“This is my home!” she protested.

“Was,” he clarified. “It was your home, now it’s mine. I am demolishing the guest house in two weeks. Feel free to gather your things.”

“How can you be so cold? I have nowhere to go! Where will Izayoi go? This is her house--”

“Was,” he held up a pompous finger. “Was her house. Now it’s mine, thank you,” he tongued his girlfriend in front of Kagome as she handed him the drink and settled herself in his lap. “Why are you still here?”

“I…” she sputtered out but was stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder.

She turned to see her mother-in-law, eyes just as red as her own. They entered the guest house together and immediately they both burst into tears. “I’m sorry Kagome,” Izayoi sighed holding her around the shoulders. “Inuyasha wouldn’t have wanted this for you.”

“What about you?” Kagome lifted up a tissue as they sat on a turquoise couch. It had been her idea to decorate in bright colors to make the space feel open and welcoming. The rugs were red, the walls were sandy yellow and the furniture was a mixture of Ikea style turquoises, purple and white. 

Izayoi had no family. She was a product of the foster-care system and had met Toga in the eighties. She worked at a coffee shop across the street where he was getting his degree at night and that was how they had met. She played hard to get of course, but as she said, when they fell, she fell hard. Izayoi only pursed her lips and shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m going with you,” Kagome squeezed her.

“Kagome,” Izayoi cupped her chin and wiped her eyes. “Go back to your family. Go back to California. There are people to love you there, who would let you have a place to stay. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not leaving you,” she whispered.

“There’s nothing left for me. Everything has been confiscated. There are no riches I can take, not even the jewelry. He let me keep my rings,” she rubbed her ring finger. “It’s okay. I’ll find work.”

“You’re in your fifties and haven’t worked twenty five years.”

“I’ll clean houses, I’ll baby sit. I’ll find something.”

“No,” she said more firmly.

“Kagome,” Izayoi closed her eyes exhaling. “And who will hire you to work?” She touched the younger woman’s belly. “When were you going to tell us?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luck and money run out.
> 
> You can follow me on tumblr same username.

“I haven’t even told my mom,” she sank down on the couch with Izayoi. “She…she doesn’t have any money. They can’t even put Sota through college. He’s taking out student loans and working as a waiter at night.”

“How far along are you?” Izayoi asked her, holding Kagome’s hands in her own.

“Fifteen weeks. I’m…” she touched her stomach. “Is it showing?”

“If you know where to look,” Izayoi winked.

The door slammed open, Sesshomaru came in with his bikini model girlfriend. “You haven’t left?” He gave them a sidelong glance that said they were in his way. “We’ll turn this into our fun-house. It will be perfect,” and he rambled off details about how he would knock one wall out and then another and replace them with fancy decorations that bespoke of his inheritance.

“Let’s go,” Kagome took Izayoi’s hand.

“I hope you know the furniture belongs to me,” Sesshomaru followed them out the door. “Everything in that house was bought with my father’s money.”

“You are so evil,” Kagome turned on him.

“I prefer pragmatic.” He pushed past her, nearly knocking her over.

“How can he not care that his father is dead?” Kagome ran after Izayoi.

“They were never close,” Izayoi whispered as they made their way out of the house to the cars before Izayoi stopped. “The cars,” she bit her bottom lip.

“He paid for the cars,” Kagome exhaled heavily.

“And the phones,” Sesshomaru held his hand out for them.

“You know this is not what your father would have wanted!” Izayoi chastised him.

“Yet it’s so hard to know what someone wanted when he never wanted you in his presence.”

“That’s not fair Sesshomaru,” Izayoi spoke with her back turned from him. “He sent you away for—”

“For my own good? Are you going to repeat the story? Let me see if I remember it. I was twelve, I had just gotten kicked out of school and you two sat me down and told me that I was being sent away to Military school, because it would benefit me, it would make me stronger. What you really meant was I was out of control and neither one of you wanted to take responsibility for me. Tell me Izayoi,” he leaned against the red-sandstone entrance to what used to be their home. “How does it feel to be kicked out of your own home?”

“I hate you,” Kagome sneered at him as she took Izayoi’s hand. “You could at least let us call an Uber.”

Her pink screened phone was passed over her shoulder. “You’ll owe me for the cost of the trip.”

***

His father’s office had always been off-limits as a child. Games of tag or hide and seek that led to this room always ended in being sent out and he was left to ponder why his father gave up his position rather than keep his confidence. He glared at the red puckered leather that overlooked the pool while sucking on a glass of bourbon on the rocks. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. He had meant to dethrone his father from his position by buying out his partners with charisma. Three of them were already in his back pocket and instead a drunk driver T-boned their car, taking Toga first and then Inuyasha.

Air fled his lungs as he breathed out heavily and closed his eyes, letting the burn of bourbon hide the tears that itched at the sides of his eyes. It didn’t matter now. Nothing did. He had the house, the cars and the business. Because Toga had been so stupidly convinced he was invincible, he had everything.

***

Weeks passed and Kagome was turned down from position after position. It turned out that after that sixteen week marker, a lovely pooch formed in the middle of her stomach that pretty much flagged the world that she was pregnant. She had one short conversation with her mother who offered her sympathies and a place to stay but she couldn’t bring herself to abandon her mother-in-law, or return to the one-bedroom home where her mother lived with her brother and her grandfather. They barely had enough to eat in that house.

The first week they stayed in a cheap motel. Neither one of them had enough money to put up for an apartment. Izayoi was close to sixty and being the wife of one of the highest paid Accountants in the city meant that she had lived in the lap of luxury and had no marketable job skills.

“Did you ever see the movie ‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’?” Kagome asked as they stirred the last of the oatmeal in the pot. “A drought takes over their village and they are forced to eat only one meal a day to survive.”

“You can’t skip meals, Kagome,” Izayoi shook her head, giving the girl half her bowl of oat meal. “Your baby needs food.”

“Why is finding a job so hard?”

“Did you apply for benefits?”

Kagome nodded, “we have to have somewhere to live first. I don’t have proof of address.”

“You need to go home,” Izayoi urged her again as she sat back against the wall of their one bed motel room. The lights flickered on and off, the carpet was shaggy and unkempt and all Kagome wanted was to lay down in her bed, in Inuyasha’s arms again.

“We never had enough food either. Grandpa got social security and momma, she worked as a house cleaner but she never made enough money. There were days Sota and I would skip meals just so she wouldn’t have to work so hard. I started babysitting at thirteen to survive. What if we went to him? I could ask him to let me work.”

“I won’t beg,” Izayoi said proudly. “How much do we have left?”

“A hundred dollars,” Kagome said quietly. “Enough for groceries next week.”

“Kagome,” Izayoi covered her daughter in laws hands with her own. “Go home.”

“To what? There’s nothing left for me there. I’ll go back and ask him for work,” Kagome said, ignoring the swirl of color in front of her eyes. She hadn’t told Izayoi but skipping meals was exactly what she had been doing to make food last longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE COMMENT AND KUDO!! IT KEEPS ME GOING


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagome goes to Sesshomaru and asks for a job. But things don't go as either of them planned.

It took longer than they both expected to get an audience with his royal highness. Kagome tried the home phone first only for Meg, their maid, to answer and ask them to call the Firm downtown to request an appointment. Apparently he had fired the entire previous house-staff and was in the process of hiring new help, Meg had no idea who Kagome and Izayoi were. 

During that time things had gone from bad to worse. Izayoi had taken up a corner in a busy city square with a sign that said, “Fell Upon Hard Times,” and nothing more. She wouldn’t beg, but Kagome needed to eat and that was all that mattered.

Kagome hadn’t been able to secure work because she had no address. No matter how much Izayoi pressed upon her to return to her mother’s home, she refused. “You were there for me the entire time Inuyasha was in school.” _Not to mention it’s not like things will be better at home._ They found friends to couch surf with, but no one to take them in until they could get on their feet, and as much as employers weren’t supposed to discriminate against the pregnant, no one wanted a worker that was going to give birth in twenty weeks.

She showered that day in her friend’s bathroom and washed her clothes. She was only able to take a few changes and even then she had no idea what was left of their belongings. “Don’t beg,” Izayoi coached her as she got ready. “He hates weakness.”

“I’m not begging,” Kagome said as she combed her wet hair into a bun and tried to make herself look less distraught than she actually was. “We don’t have anywhere to stay tonight.”

“Your friend said you could stay,” Izayoi squeezed her hand. “I’ll be fine a night on the streets.”

“How are you so calm about this?” Kagome certainly wasn’t.

“How much worse can it get? No one said finding a job late in life is easy. Make sure to eat something.” She patted Kagome’s belly. Even food had been scarce. Her friends offered her dinner but they couldn’t afford to pay for all her meals.

* * *

The first thing he noticed when she was escorted into his office at the estate was that her stomach was protruding from her middle and that her eyes were gaunt. He tried to ignore how the sight of her pale skin and cracked lips made him uncomfortable as he leaned back in his father’s plush, leather chair. “Come back to beg?”

“No,” Kagome said stepping forward. “I came to ask for a job.”

“And what, pray tell, are your skills?”

“I have a resume.” She handed it to him nervously. Her hands were chafed and dry.

“You haven’t worked in years and you’re aggrandizing the fact that you were an unemployed artist whose paintings never sold. I don’t think I have an open position at this time for someone with your skillset. You can leave now.” He was sure the clenching in his stomach would stop as soon as she left. He hadn’t known she was pregnant when he threw her out of the guest house.

She grit her teeth and said, “Sesshomaru, please. I’ll do anything, cook, clean the floors, scrub the toilets, here or in the office. I just need something until the baby comes.” She wiped a tear from her cheek, but what impressed him the most was that she raised her head and dared to meet his eyes. “Please?”

There was something fierce that he appreciated about that look and he couldn’t escape the guilt that he had booted a pregnant woman from her home. “There’s no address on here.” He knew the law, no address, no employment.

“You are really going to make me beg aren’t you? I’m just asking for a job, I’m not asking for your money—”

“Technically you are asking me for money by asking for a job. Why should I consider you over the twenty-five year old that is coming to interview later today?”

“I’m telling you I will work for it. Isn’t that enough? I cleaned houses in High School. This isn’t the first time I’ve done it and at least with me you can trust I won’t steal anything or skimp the corners. I know this house and I know you.”

He closed his eyes, frustrated that she was making good sense and even more irritated with growing lump in his throat. “When is the baby due?”

“Thanksgiving,” and god, did she have to touch her stomach at that moment, making him flinch? Making him feel.

“So you want a temporary position?”

“I could work after,” she said rigidly.

“I’m going to regret this,” he said exasperated, handing the resume back to her. “I’ll overlook the lack of address for now. You can start tomorrow. I assume you won’t complain if I pay you fifteen dollars an hour?” He cocked an eyebrow.

“The average pay in Los Angeles is forty dollars an hour. I want twenty,” she folded her arms across her breasts.

“Fine, twenty, now get out of my office. If you’re late in the morning, you’re fired.”

“Fine,” she stood up and that’s when he noticed that she wavered on her feet.

“Are you okay Kagome?” he asked as he rushed around the large mahogany desk, catching her by the elbow. Close up he could see the spiderwebs of unshed tears in her eyes, the way her skin clung to the bones in her cheeks and how chapped her lips were.

“I’m…I’m fine.” She pulled her arm out of his hand. “What time in the morning?”

“Eight,” he said escorting her to the door and that’s when he saw it. Her legs gave out beneath her, her knees buckled, sending her body backwards. He caught her by the shoulders before she hit the ground and rolled her onto her side. “Kagome?” Sesshomaru slapped her cheek annoyed, then touched her forehead, there was no fever. He shook her shoulder, but she didn’t rouse. “Dammit.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagome wakes up in the hospital, suffering from malnutrition and we learn something new about Sesshomaru

She opened her eyes groggily to a bright light in her face. Garbled words were spoken around her as she tried to sit up. “Try not to move.” She heard Izayoi.

“Izayoi?” Kagome asked weakly, scrubbing the crust off her eyelashes and opening her eyes. Her mother-in-law sat in a chair in the corner of the hospital room.

Kagome touched her hand finding an IV, and then swallowed the thickness in her mouth. “What happened?”

“You passed out,” a harsher voice said from the other side of the room.

“How did you get in here?” She pushed herself up to sit.

“It’s amazing what hospitals are willing to do for you when you threaten a suit and have the means to follow through.”

“Great,” Kagome exhaled, catching her breath. Her hands immediately flew to her belly, feeling it still round and firm.

“The baby is fine.” Izayoi quickly sat down on the bed next to her. “You can leave, Sesshomaru.”

“Not until she signs a document absolving me of any legal or financial liability for this incident.” He threw a paper on her lap with bright yellow arrows, pointing out where to sign.

Kagome adjusted herself in the bed, nodding just as the doctor entered the room. “I need to speak to her privately.”

* * *

Sesshomaru glared at Izayoi as they waited in the hallway. The door was left cracked and he was able to catch pieces of the conversation. Kagome had been couch surfing for weeks and with that, she wasn’t eating properly, causing malnutrition. The doctor asked her if she had a place to live. She said nowhere and started crying, explaining that her husband had passed recently and they did not have much money saved and she had only recently procured work that she was sure she was going to be fired from.

“She wouldn’t be in this position if you weren’t so cruel,” Izayoi said angrily.

“Shut up, hag. If you and father had not been so cruel—”

“It was for your own good!” Izayoi screamed at him.

“I was a child!” he yelled back just as loud. “Did I deserve to be shipped off at the age of twelve like I didn’t matter?”

The doctor exited the room and Sesshomaru’s fury billowed within him. He left Izayoi standing in the hall and asked Kagome. “Did you sign the papers?”

“Yes…um, he said I need to rest for a week and eat and…”

“Your position will be waiting for you,” he cut her off abruptly, taking them off the foot of the bed. “Next Monday at 8am.” He paused by the door. “Come to my house, after you are discharged.”

“Um…okay,” Kagome answered, exhausted.

“Why aren’t you finishing the food?” he asked her curtly.

Kagome only bit her bottom lip.

He opened his wallet and took out a twenty dollar bill, handing it to her. “Tell the hag to get something to eat.”

“You are such an ass…I’ll pay you back.” She took it from him. “Thank you, Sesshomaru.”

After he left, Izayoi entered the room. “You had me scared, Kagome.”

Kagome handed her the money. “What does he mean you sent him away?”

Izayoi pursed her lips and sat down in a chair. “It’s a long story.”

“It’s cruel.”

“You don’t understand.” Izayoi shook her head in denial.

“He was twelve, most people wait until high school.” Kagome lifted up the jello and started eating it.

“We couldn’t wait that long,” Izayoi raised her eyes to meet Kagome. “You don’t know what happened.”

“You sent him away!” Kagome yelled, not understanding where the anger was coming from.

“WE HAD TO!” Izayoi breaks down in tears. “We had to. You don’t know what it was like raising him. He was out of control, Kagome. He was diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, they said he was anti-social. He pulled a knife on a student at school and said he was going to kill him.”

Kagome covered her mouth, shocked.

“Toga had to fight to get him out of jail that night.” She wiped her sun blistered eyes. “Social Services said they were taking custody of him and that it wasn’t safe for him to be around Inuyasha. They were going to put him in a home for children like him. We couldn’t do that to him, Kagome. So Toga made a deal with the judge. He would send him to live at a Military school until he was eighteen or he showed enough progress that he was no longer a danger to himself or those around him.” She took a tissue to clean her face. “He doesn’t remember it like that. He doesn’t know what we had to do to keep custody of him. It was the only way!”

“But you could tell him!”

“No!” Izayoi says shaking.

“Why not? He hates you and his father for it?” Kagome drops her spoon.

“No!” Izayoi barked. “You won’t tell him either.”

“But I don’t understand why?”

“Toga said he didn’t want him growing up with a label. He never told Sesshomaru he had a problem. We tried everything, but he was so stubborn. When this happened, Toga refused to let him become a delinquent. He wanted him to grow up proud of himself and his accomplishments, not a child that had been in jail, that had a record. We did it to protect him, Kagome.”

“You have to tell him!” Kagome screams defiantly.

“NO! I would rather die than for him to think of himself as anything else than what he is. His father wanted him to believe in himself and that’s what happened. He was so proud of Sesshomaru.” She falls into her hands, sobbing. “He loved him so much. I love him.” Izayoi drops to her knees in front of Kagome’s bed. “You have to promise me you won’t tell him.”

“Izayoi—”

“No. Toga didn’t want him remembering himself like that. You have to promise me.”

“I promise.” The oath tasted bitter in her mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment and Kudo!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sesshomaru makes a decision regarding Kagome that will change his life.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has been reading this work. Life has been a bit insane...my in laws house burned down about 3 weeks ago so my muse is just dead. I will keep writing as I can. Please enjoy!

Kagome stayed in the hospital for two days and when she was released, it was with the number to a social worker to help her find temporary shelter and local pantries that gave away food and a promise that she would start eating more. She had enough money from what Sesshomaru had given her to hail a cab to return to what used to be her home. Izayoi had promised to try harder to find real work instead of begging on the streets.

Kagome sat glumly, leaning against the window of the taxi watching the familiar curves of the road and the rush of red that painted the Tucson highway. She held her stomach, feeling the baby kick. She had found out in the hospital that it was a boy. They hadn’t decided on names before Inuyasha died and a part of her felt empty.

By the time she got to the mansion, her cheeks were splotchy with tears and her eyes red and puffy. _Pull it together Kagome,_ she chided herself as she exited the cab and painfully handed the last dollars she had to the driver. “I’m sorry, there isn’t enough for a tip,” she said bitterly, choking in tears.

He nodded his head and rather than looking disgusted, drove off wishing her good luck for the future.

She approached the door with a heavy heart, then knocked, holding her breath. The door was opened swiftly by one of the new maids. “I’m supposed to meet Sesshomaru. Is he here?”

“He’s at his office downtown. But he said if you came to call him. Please come in.” The maid led Kagome into the living room and offered her tea. “He also said that I should offer you something to eat. We made biscuits this morning? Buttermilk?”

“Sure,” Kagome said softly. She ate slowly, if not slightly mechanically unsure of what to expect.

* * *

Thirty minutes into a rather heated session with his girlfriend, Sesshomaru’s phone rang. He silenced it at first, preferring the vision in front of him in all her naked glory when the damn iPhone starting buzzing again. “Oh god Sesshomaru? Really?” Rin asked him out of breath, sliding off his stomach.

“Hello?” Sesshomaru answered bristling. _This had better be good._

“She’s here,” Meg told him.

“Thank you. I’ll be home in half an hour.”

“You’ll be home in half an hour?” Rin whined from behind him. “Really?”

He sat up, ignoring her and started walking for the door. He would thank his father one day for having a small apartment built behind his office, but then he cringed at the thought of his father entertaining his mother much the same way he had been Rin.

“Sesshomaru!” She chased after him, covered in only one of his long sleeve, button down shirts.

“Enough,” he answered her.

“I’m not comfortable with this arrangement you’re going to make with them! You promised it would be our house!”

“That was before I found out my brother’s widow was pregnant and starving herself!” he yells back at her.

Hurt and pain wash over Rin’s face. “I can’t do this.”

“I can’t do this either,” Sesshomaru agrees with her. “I made my decision. It’s my house and whether you like it or not, Kagome will be working for me.”

“Then don’t bother calling me.”

He bristles further, anger pumping through his veins, but then a lazy grin crosses his face as he circles her. “You were never very good in bed anyway. You can show yourself out.”

* * *

The door opened and Sesshomaru slammed it shut making Kagome jump and spill her tea on her hand. “Dammit,” she whispered, trying reach over her stomach to grab a napkin.

“Your first mess to clean, how apropos,” he said as he towered over Kagome.

“Sorry and um…thank you for not firing me.” Kagome got up quickly, brushing off her skirt and wiping up the mess she made. “So…what did you need me to come here for?”

“To show you your room. Follow me,” he said, literally stalking down the hall and then down the set of stairs the servants usually used to get to the basement.

Kagome knew what was down there, a large game room and then two bedrooms that were often used for guests but her mouth nearly hit the ground when she walked through the game room. The two bedrooms had been made accessible by a lockable door and the second room turned into a nursery. “What is this?” Kagome asked him.

“I may have made a rash decision evicting you from your home. The room is yours, the extra for the child when it comes.”

“A boy…it’s a boy,” she spoke nervously. “But what about Izayoi? I can’t leave her out in the cold on her own.”

Sesshomaru visibly winced and bit his lip. She could tell from the growing indent just above his chin. “If you want to share your space with her, that is your problem, not mine. Make no mistake, food and shelter will be deducted from your pay. The kitchen is open, breakfast is served at 6am and my office needs to be ready by 7:00am. Tax season is coming, my home office is integral to keeping ahead.”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Kagome said rubbing her head.

“You’re not going to faint on me again are you?”

“No…I just, thanks Sesshomaru,” and suddenly she was wrapping her arms around him and bursting into tears. “Thank you!”

He stood stiffly, with his arms at his side and awkwardly pat her back. “There, there. You can release me now.”

“Sorry,” Kagome apologized and wiped her eyes, swallowing her sorrow and her relief. “I’m just…this is great.”

“Displease me and I’ll throw you out on your ass, baby or no baby. Don’t think this changes how I feel about you.”

“Of course not,” Kagome wiped her eyes as she stared at the two giant rooms that he had given her, complete with a door to lock and an outside exit. She was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment and kudo!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagome works her first job at Sesshomaru's mansion

He had no idea what had come over him nor why offered the space in his basement to Kagome. Maybe it was pity. Maybe it was because his father had always wanted grandchildren and had expected Sesshomaru as the eldest to provide the first one. More likely it was because he never would have thrown her out had he known about the pregnancy.

He woke to the sound of his alarm screaming at him. Birds chirped on the trees outside and the bright July sun warmed his bare belly. Rubbing his eyes, he pushed himself out of bed and pulled on his running gear.

Military school had taught him timeliness and discipline. They woke the students with the sun and began drills that included pushups, jumping jacks, sit ups and running for miles, something he still did.

He used the time running across the red rocks and sand to organize his day. Business Tax season was coming. It was his job to approve the taxes after the underlings processed them. They had hired ten accountants to shoulder the extra burden of the businesses who invariably procrastinated forcing his company to file last minute.

Around the fifth mile, his chest began to burn from exertion. He panted, focusing on forcing his legs to keep moving until his Apple watch pinged, letting him know he had reached his seven mile goal. He stalked back to his house, covered in sweat.

Popcorn danced in her belly, waking her from a deep slumber. For the first night in the house, it hadn't been so bad. Izayoi had insisted on sleeping on the floor but Kagome convinced her to join her in the very comfortable full bed. "Where are you going to look for work today?"

"Starbucks," Izayoi said giddily. "I think I have a future as a barista. I won Toga over with a Vanilla Cappuccino. I'll teach you the recipe someday."

Kagome bathed herself in the shower, noticing that each time she circled her belly, the baby inside kicked at her hand. Tears left her eyes. Nostalgic, romantic tears of the days they spent lounging in bed, making love or just talking and sharing their lives. He was almost done with University and they were planning on moving out and supporting themselves.

Taking a deep breath, she left the shower and attempted to dress in the maid's clothing. "They were not thinking about pregnant women when they made this," she groaned out, dancing in circles, trying to close the black dress. "Dammit," she whispered, frustrated, letting it fall around her ankles.

She settled on black leggings and an oversized black T-shirt and then tied the white apron around her. She studied herself in the mirror. Although she had slept well on a full stomach, she was still a wreck.

Nothing remained of the guest house that she had once lived in. She would have to wait for her first paycheck to buy proper attire.

Kagome waddled up the stairs and headed for the kitchen. It was six forty five. She needed to get Sesshomaru's office "ready". Whatever "ready" meant. She slid into the kitchen, grabbing a croissant from the cook and a hot cup of coffee. She packed them in quickly and then flagged down Meg, the head maid. "What do I do? He said his office should be ready?"

"Come with me," Meg answered coolly, walking quickly. "New income documents come in overnight. You take the faxes from the machine and separate them by business name and order in which they are received. Most of what he does is online, but some companies are still learning that email exists."

"Okay," she said holding the papers, struggling to keep up with Meg.

"After that is done, he likes his coffee black, no sugar. He takes a protein shake in the morning, twelve ounces and Gatorade to recover from running. He arrives promptly at six fifty-five, so if I were you, I would hurry."

"That's it?"

"After that meet me in the kitchen for further instruction."

"Okay," she said, rummaging through the papers, separating them and then stapling them together by business name. She glanced at the clock, discovering she only hand seven minutes to spare. _Great…_

She was in the middle of separating the last income forms when Sesshomaru came through the door, dressed in slacks and a white button down shirt, with his long silver hair tied back in a pretentious braid. He approached her slowly, picking up the tax returns. "You stapled them?"

"Was I not supposed to?"

"Did Meg tell you to?"

She mulled over that for a minute, feeling the seconds inch by like molasses. "No. Just separate them."

"Exactly, separate. Take the staples out and copy them. I can't fax forms back that have staples in them."

"I didn't know—"

"Of course you didn't. Coffee? Smoothie?"

"Right," she said, shaking nervously and running for the door, until she felt a hand on top of hers.

"Calm down. I'm not going to kick you out for making an error on the first day."

She gazed at him, searching his eyes, feeling heat from his palm. She slid her hand out from under his, letting him open the door. "Do you have a favorite flavor?"

"Sadly my favorite doesn't work for the professional world. Blueberry. Gets stuck in my teeth."

"I bet I can make one that won't."

"And what's the wager?"

"A job for Izayoi."

"You really are pushing your luck."

Kagome held her hand out proudly. "I make a smoothy that doesn't get stuck in your teeth and you find a sensible job for Izayoi."

"Well one of my partners is looking for decent cleaning help. You have a deal." They pressed palms sealing the deal. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"My stomach doesn't fit in your black dresses."

"I'll have Meg find you something less trashy." Then he shut the door behind her. She resolved to do her best, unsure of the future.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sesshomaru comforts Kagome and makes an offer.

Kagome won the bet, successfully blending the blueberries until there was nothing left to stick to his teeth.

To his chagrin, Sesshomaru was now funding his step-mother's salary. Each time he saw Kagome, her middle swelled, stretching one shirt after another.

As the weeks passed, the ghostly pale skin gained more color. He found himself watching her at her duties. Her stomach bumped into vases and carvings that decorated. She'd catch them with a guilty look and move on.

His step-mother was another story. Not being able to stand the sight of her, he sent her to work in the office downtown. It was easier that way. He went in sparingly, doing most of his work from home.

One night as he swam laps in the large pool and his head popped out of water, he heard soft cries. He exited the water and wrapped a towel around his waist.

He found Kagome in the stairwell to the basement. The key she held shook against the lock. He leaned against the wall on an upraised arm. "What's wrong?"

She jumped, dropping the key. "Nothing."

"Most people don't cry over nothing." He stepped down the stairs and spared her attempting to fold her stomach enough to bend down and retrieved the key. "Here." He opened the door.

"Thanks," she whispered and closed the door on him.

"Kagome, are you sure you're alright?" He caught the door.

"I just miss him." She dug in her purse and handed him a glassy black and white picture.

He gazed at the grainy film. A small thumb inside a mouth. Two frog like legs. He traced the contour of the baby with his thumb. "How much longer?"

"Eight weeks. Thank you for everything. I know this isn't what you wanted. As soon as he comes, I'll try to find something else."

"I'm not in a rush to be rid of you. Her on the other hand—"

"Sesshomaru," Kagome bit her bottom lip, "there's something you don't know."

"And what's that?" He stiffened, going from sympathetic to covering himself in unenterable armor.

"I promised I wouldn't say anything." She took the picture back and went inside.

"About what?"

"Forget I said it."

"Kagome?" He stepped over the threshold, setting one barefoot onto the tile.

"Um, Sesshomaru?" Kagome chewed on her finger. "I know this is technically you're house, but you're half naked and—"

"Right." He retreated, wiping moisture off his stomach.

"I'm tired. It's been a long day. My ankles are swollen and my back hurts."

"You should get a massage."

"That costs money."

"I'll deduct it from your salary. I have one come every night."

"I can't afford it."

"Irresponsible spending?"

"No." She folded her arms over her bump. "I never went to college. I didn't think I needed to. I don't want to clean your house for the rest of my life, or work as a barista, waitress."

"Really?" There was something gratifying in that. He had never liked how she mooched off his father's wealth. "What for?"

"I don't know yet. I'll see you tomorrow." She closed the door. For a while he just stared at it, remembering the picture of his nephew.

"He needs to know," Kagome fumed at Izayoi over dinner. The elder woman made a spread of rice and frijoles with fresh flour tortillas.

"Toga used to love fresh tortillas. We bought the tortilla maker years ago before you and Inuyasha got married."

"Don't hedge."

Izayoi's hand dropped. "You promised Kagome. It's what Toga wanted."

"What if he was wrong? Look at who he's become. He's running the company well from what I can tell. He went to college. He has friends."

"And when he knows, what will it do to him?"

"I think he'll be happy he succeeded and that you cared enough to keep him out of residential and juvenile detention." Kagome nibbled on the beans. They were making her feel queasy. She wanted something sweet.

"No."

"You're making a mistake."

"Then it's my mistake to live with," Izayoi answered firmly.

Kagome chose that moment to bolt to the trash can and throw up the little bit she had tried to eat.

"Just let it out," Izayoi chuckled. She wiped her daughter in law's mouth with a towel.

"I'm going up to the kitchen. I want something sweet."

"He doesn't keep sweets upstairs."

Kagome groaned. "I'm going to look anyway."

She searched through the cupboards, opening and closing the doors. It was late. She just wanted something sweet to satiate her appetite and stay in her stomach. "What are you doing in here?"

She jumped, turning around, heart pounding. "Sesshomaru, sorry." She slammed the last cupboard shut.

"Again, what are you doing up here? It's late, I thought you were going to sleep."

"Izayoi made a big dinner. I um…" she paused, wondering how much she could say. "Craving. I wanted something sweet."

He snorted and walked over to the cabinet that was above the fridge. He pushed aside several storage containers and pulled out a bag of Oreos. "Meg's a treat thief. Take the bag."

"Izayoi said you don't eat treats."

"Izayoi doesn't know anything about me. Happens, when you don't raise your step son."

She chose not to answer. "Thanks."

"I have a meeting in Flagstaff in a month. I'd like for you to go."

She gazed at his eyes, never noticing before how alike yet different they were from Inuyasha's. The same gold, but lighter and harder. "Why?"

"You don't know what you want to do. Why not find out more about what I do? Besides, you at least I can count on pulling your weight."

"You know I'll be," she started but was distracted by a powerful kick to her middle.

"Was that?"

"Did you see it?"

"Your shirt moved."

She watched her stomach roll and then another kick. "Do you want to feel it?"

"No."

"Come on," she pressed his palm against her belly. "Feel that. He's so strong, just like his…" the word floated in the air. She hadn't noticed how close their faces were, but somehow it felt right.

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE COMMENT, KUDO! AND FOLLOW ME ON EITHER TWITTER OR INSTAGRAM  
> TWITTER.COM/ELOHINIAR  
> AND ON TUMBLR SAME USERNAME!!


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